Meghan Markle pictured as a sexy Santa

She may be about to spend Christmas Day with the Queen in Buckingham Palace but Meghan Markle’s previous festive seasons looked very different indeed.

Pictures have emerged of the 36-year-old former Suits actress dressed like a sexy Santa Claus during her time on the TV gameshow Deal or No Deal.

The photos, from 2006, show Meghan in a red, fur-lined minidress and a pair of glittering heels.

Meghan Markle is pictured during her Deal or No Deal days. Photo: Getty Images

The photos are from 2006, when Meghan worked on the TV gameshow. Photo: Getty Images

The future Duchess of Sussex had a reoccurring role on the show from 2006 until 2007, with Meghan calling the show a “learning experience.

“I would put that in the category of things I was doing while I was auditioning to try to make ends meet,” the star previously told Esquire in an interview.

“I went from working in the U.S. Embassy in Argentina to ending up on Deal.

“Definitely working on Deal or No Deal was a learning experience, and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing.”

The future Duchess of Sussex had a reoccurring role on the show from 2006 until 2007. Photo: Getty Images

Meghan went on to say that she would “end up standing up there forever in these terribly uncomfortable and inexpensive five-inch heels just waiting for someone to pick my number so I could go and sit down”.

According to Tameka Jacobs, who worked on Meghan during her time on the show, Meghan was a “workhorse”, who was constantly attending auditions in her spare time.

However, Tameka said that Meghan had to wear short dresses just like the rest of the girls, even though they used to come as full-length gowns before they were cut.

It’s been claimed that she was told to stuff her bra and her weight was monitored to make sure she didn’t put on anything. Photo: Getty Images

“There was a lot of pressure not to gain weight and we were inspected every morning,” Tameka told The Sun.